


All Or Nothing

by ohwise1ne



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Law Enforcement, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Enemies to Lovers, F/M, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Loss of Virginity, Smut, Undercover
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-02
Updated: 2019-08-02
Packaged: 2020-07-29 05:19:15
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,150
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20076775
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ohwise1ne/pseuds/ohwise1ne
Summary: It should be simple. Find a way into the casino. Stay undercover. Don’t become distracted by her bitter rival, Ben Solo, who happens to be her partner on the most dangerous case of her career.Obviously, things don’t go according to plan. And when it comes to Ben Solo, nothing is simple.





	All Or Nothing

**Author's Note:**

  * For [KyloTrashForever](https://archiveofourown.org/users/KyloTrashForever/gifts).

> This is a fic in celebration of the birthday of my wife, who is among the very best people I have ever known. Thank you for these past ten months of friendship, babe. You deserve the entire world <3

She enters Luke's office to find that Solo has somehow arrived before her. 

What's worse, he is looking even surlier than usual. Arms folded across his expansive chest, he leans against the bookcase in the corner of the room. Glowering at the window.

“Whatever he told you,” Rey blurts out, before Luke can finish opening his mouth, “he started it.”

This, at least, gets Solo's attention. His head whips toward her, the displeasure on his face darkening tenfold.

“Actually, I didn't summon you here for a lecture today.” Luke's eyes crinkle with amusement as he motions at the chair in front of the desk. “Have a seat.”

Rey looks between the two men distrustfully. Solo has returned to sulking in the general direction of the nearest window, so she isn't able to discern any information that way. Not that he ever does anything much more informative than sulking at windows.

“I’m only sitting if he does,” she says, a little petulantly.

“Seriously?” Solo aims the question not at her, but at Luke. “This is exactly what I’m talking about.”

“Sit down,” Luke says with a firm glare at his nephew. “Both of you.”

Rey moves to one of the leather chairs in front of Luke’s desk and waits, pointedly, for Solo to join her. After a few moments, he does — but not without breathing out heavily through his nostrils in a way that reminds her of an enormous, aggravated bull.

Once they are both seated, Luke allows them to dangle for a few moments in the suspense that follows.

“I have decided,” he finally says, steepling his fingers, “to put you on the Empire case.”

Rey can’t help herself; she breaks out into a grin. Not even the thundercloud darkening over Solo’s head beside her can damper her excitement. But she is also aware of Luke’s heavy gaze on her, so she quickly wrestles her expression back into one of professional determination. 

“I won’t disappoint you, sir.”

“I know you won’t,” Luke says, even as Solo makes an incredulous noise to her left. “As I have explained to Ben—several times now, in fact—you are the only person on this team capable of meeting the technical demands of this case.”

“Thank you, sir.” 

She isn’t sure which part she enjoys more—finally landing this mission after several weeks of pushback from her least favorite person in the department—or the opportunity to watch that very same man’s reaction while she receives this wonderful news.

Rey looks over at Solo, who is so tense that he looks like he’s about to cave in on himself, moments away from the birth of his very own black hole. Watching his reaction, she decides, is definitely the best part here. 

“When do I start?” she asks, nearly buzzing with excitement.

_ “We.” _

It’s the first word Solo has spoken to her since she walked into Luke’s office. But she can’t really be sure — he still refuses to look at her, staring straight ahead as though every muscle in his body is clenched at maximum strength. Including a few that Rey doesn’t want to think about.

“Are you talking to me or the window?” she asks him sweetly. “I can’t tell.”

“When do _ we _ start.” Solo turns the full, furious weight of his gaze upon her. “We will be conducting this investigation together, Ms. Sanders.”

Rey laughs out loud. “You know, I think that’s the first time I’ve ever heard you make a joke.”

“He isn’t joking,” Luke says, interrupting her laughter. “You and Ben will be working together on this case as a team.”

Her mouth falls open. She looks back and forth between Luke and his nephew, hoping to catch any signal that this is still part of a hilarious prank.

When she doesn't find any, she turns back to Luke with an expression of utter betrayal. “You can't be serious. Him... and _ me. _ We’re going to work together.”

“Yup.”

“Pardon my frankness,” she says, “but that's the stupidest idea I've ever heard.”

“Finally, we agree on something,” Solo mutters, still glaring at the window.

Luke leans forward, looking very serious. “You two are my best agents. And this is likely to be the most important case of both your careers. So you _ will _ learn how to work together.” 

_ “I _ certainly know how to work together,” Rey says primly. “But I'm not the problem here, am I?”

“Is that what I am to you?” Solo turns his scowl upon her again, and Rey feels the heat of his fury like a red flame licking at her neck. “A _ problem?” _

“You’re both going to have much larger problems if you don't learn how to control yourselves,” Luke says sharply. “The meeting is next week. Don't make me regret this.”

“I regret it already,” Solo says under his breath.

Rey looks up at the ceiling and counts the tiles there instead of throwing a punch at the impossible prick sitting next to her. “Thank you for the opportunity, Mr. Skywalker.”

By the time she reaches the twenty-ninth panel, Skywalker has returned to his laptop, and Ben Solo is already gone.

* * *

“He’s the worst person I've ever met,” Rey says, stabbing at the air with her fork for dramatic effect. “An absolute monster.”

It is a true test of friendship, she decides, to decipher what someone is saying with their mouth full of chicken ramen. As it turns out, Hux passes this test with flying colors. 

Or at the very least, he makes out the final word, because he shakes his head wearily across the break room table. “You’re the monster, Sanders. In case you haven't noticed, there's a napkin right in front of you.”

Rey slurps noisily at the noodles dangling from her mouth, so that she can furrow her brow in her best imitation of her nemesis. “No time for napkins,” she says in the lowest voice she can manage. “Crime doesn’t have time to clean up after itself, Agent Sanders, and neither do we.”

Hux’s mouth drops open. “Solo never said that.”

“You're right. He didn’t.” Rey waves a napkin in the face of her newfound friend. “But if he discovered that he and I have _ these _ in common, he’d swear off using them forever, too.”

“Solo is the most neurotic person I've ever met. You would have to pry his napkins from his cold, dead, sparkling clean hands.”

“You spend quite a bit of time talking about Solo’s hands,” Rey says, waggling her eyebrows suggestively.

“You spend far too much time ignoring then.” Hux takes a bite of his salad. “Objectively, they are very nice hands.”

“There’s nothing special about Solo’s hands. Except for how monstrously big they are.”

“I’ve never recalled that being a bad thing.”

Rey looks down at her bowl to hide the sudden warmth spreading across her cheeks. “Only when they're attached to such a monster.”

“Learn to live a little, Sanders. There are entire communities online that are dedicated to monster-fucking.”

“The day I start googling _ monster-fucking _ is the day you try some of my ramen.” She slurps another large mouthful and grins, just for the way Hux winces with distaste.

“I don't understand how you can eat that rubbish.”

“Don't make me reconsider our friendship, Hux.”

“We do not have a _ friendship. _ And I’ve never had a bowl of ramen that tasted better than its styrofoam container.”

“That's because you’re making it the wrong way.” Rey jabs her fork at him. “You’ve got to pour it into a glass bowl _ before _ you microwave it. So you can flip it around while it's still cooking. Otherwise…” She takes another slurp. “It turns out slimy.”

“The day I eat your slimy ramen is the day that _ you _ break down and try some monster-fucking.” Hux spears a piece of fresh spinach with his fork. “In fact, the perfect candidate for you is headed right this way.”

Hux’s eyes drift over her shoulder to the entrance of the break room, and the hairs on the back of Rey’s neck stand straight up. With a deep feeling of dread, she turns her head to find Solo standing in the doorway, looking very displeased. Not that this is a far departure from his normal expression.

“Look at the time,” Hux says dryly. “I’ve got to go fight some crime.”

“Me too,” Rey adds, making to follow him to his feet, but Solo paralyzes her with a glare.

“Sit down, Sanders. We need to talk.”

“Sorry. Can’t.” She waves her wristwatch at him. “I’m back on the clock.” 

“Which is why you will sit back down and listen to me.”

Rey snorts. “When two people are having a _ talk, _ they usually both do at least _ some _ of the listening. Right, Hux?”

She turns to her friend for back-up—and is outraged to find he is already abandoning her in the time of her greatest need, halfway out the door.

“Don’t forget to google that later,” Hux calls over his shoulder, carrying his salad with him.

Traitor. A cowardly, backstabbing traitor.

As soon as Hux has finished fleeing the room, Solo shuts the door. The silence is—deafening. Was it really this quiet before? Or is it just the effect this man has everywhere he goes, sucking up all the light and sound in the room like a giant black hole?

“I need you to drop the Empire case,” he says quietly.

She shouldn’t be surprised by this request. She really shouldn’t. 

And she definitely shouldn’t be _ hurt _, of all things.

Pushing down the sharp heat bubbling in her chest, Rey gives him her best snarl. “You’d love that, wouldn’t you? Having the case all to yourself again.”

His face hardens. “I am familiar with these people, Rey. Too familiar. They’re dangerous.”

“In case you’ve forgotten, it’s my _ job _ to work with dangerous people.”

“This is a different kind of dangerous.”

“What are you trying to say, exactly?” Rey shoves her chair away from the table with a scraping noise that is especially loud in the tiny space. Solo flinches at the sound of it. “You think I can’t handle it? You think I’m not capable?”

“Of course you can handle it,” he snaps, which at first fills her with surprise—then sudden, violent fury.

Face hot with emotion, she marches right up to him. “If you think I can handle it, then stop pretending you’re being _ charitable _ by keeping me off this mission.” She nearly spits the word in his face. “I’m not an idiot, Solo. Just because you despise me doesn’t mean you can keep me from doing my job.”

His scowl deepens. “Is that really what you think?”

“It doesn’t matter. It’s not going to work. You’re not going to stop me.” Rey tries to push past him, a little too rough, but he barely budges. His torso might as well be made of brick. Clenching her fists, Rey turns her head back up to face him. “Fine. You want to talk? Here’s _ my _ part of the talk. We’re going to meet at the casino Saturday night. We’re going to get what we need from these bastards. And then we are never going to work on another case together again.”

His jaw works furiously, like he is grinding his teeth to keep himself from doing something he’ll regret. "Will you let me speak now?"

“Are you going to tell me to drop the case again?”

He closes his eyes, as if trying to gather his patience. When he looks at her again, his face is void of expression. “Wear something nice. A dress. They won’t let you in without one.”

She resists the urge to roll her eyes. “You’re going to tell me what to wear now?”

“Yes.” He steps closer to her. Invading her personal space. “Make sure you can run in it. In case they try to keep us from leaving.”

Something about his tone makes fear slice through her, icy and sharp. Rey doesn’t let it reach her face. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I don’t let anyone keep me from doing what I want.”

She doesn’t stick around to savor his reaction. This time, she manages to push past him—a movement that makes their bodies brush together in a number of uncomfortable places—before she yanks open the door and exits.

Outside the break room, Hux is leaning against the wall, still eating his salad.

"Well?” He gestures at the door. “Am I going to be eating your ramen anytime soon?”

Rey wants to tell him in explicit terms where he can put her ramen. Instead, she stalks down the hall, face still burning, body still tingling in all the places it made contact with Solo a few moments ago.

She is so distracted by both these things that it’s not until she returns to her office that she realizes he called her _ Rey. _

**Author's Note:**

> Come say hi on Twitter!


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